9% of top grossing U.S. films in 2012 were from female directors

The percentage of women directing the top 250 U.S. movies rose 4 percentage points from 2011 to 2012 to 9%. Work from well-known names such as Kathryn Bigelow and Agnieszka Holland as well as newcomers Lorene Scafaria and Jennifer Westfeldt were represented on the list. The 9% is the highest ranking since 2000, according to San Diego State University professor Martha Lauzen, when female directors filmed 11% of U.S. movies. The trend seems to be continuing: at Sundance, half the films featured are from women directors.